


Bandit Maiden Yang AU

by im_the_king_of_the_ocean



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Spring Maiden!Yang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22834543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_the_king_of_the_ocean/pseuds/im_the_king_of_the_ocean
Summary: an au where Yang was raised by Raven instead of Taiyang (and eventually became the Spring Maiden)
Relationships: Raven Branwen & Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose & Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Bandit Maiden Yang AU

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YellowMagicalGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowMagicalGirl/gifts).



> This posting is an overall summary of what happens in the au. I currently have no intention of writing a giant fic to go along with it (I have enough projects as it is), but I'm willing to answer further questions on my tumblr blog, [im-the-king-of-the-ocean](https://im-the-king-of-the-ocean.tumblr.com), or potentially write ficlets set in the au.

Raven leaves Taiyang before she knows she’s pregnant, and only finds that out once she’s returned to the bandit tribe and taken power. She decides to keep the child because she’ll need a successor eventually and this way she’ll be able to train her daughter as she wishes.

(also, even tho she denies her capacity for it, Raven does feel love. She purposely tries not to show it (she thinks it will cause her daughter to be weak), but she does care for Yang.)

Qrow learns about Yang, but he doesn’t pass on this knowledge to Taiyang. In the time that passed since Raven’s departure, like in canon, Taiyang and Summer got together and Ruby was born a few years after Yang. Then, Summer went on her last mission and never returned. 

Taiyang falls into a depression and is barely holding himself together for the one daughter that’s there with him. Qrow fears if he tells Taiyang about Yang, it’ll only worsen his mental state. So, Qrow doesn’t.

Qrow moves back to Patch and stops going on reconnaissance missions for Ozpin, giving the reason that Ruby has silver eyes. Sure, not many know about Silver Eyed Warriors, but Salem’s forces do. Ifthey find out about Ruby, or, if her powers emerge in childhood, and people like Torchwick’s gang over in Vale decide they want it for themselves, Ruby’s going to need more protecting than Taiyang can currently provide. Ozpin agrees with this assessment.

(This is also the reason I’m going with for why Qrow doesn’t try to take Yang away from Raven. He doesn’t have much faith in his sister’s parenting skills, but Qrow knows Raven will look after anyone she considers her own. Coupled with the fact that he’s concerned whoever caused Summer not to return (probably Salem) learning she had a daughter who inherited her silver eyes, and Qrow determines Ruby is at higher risk (he can’t leave her for the duration he’d need to get Yang away.))

Anywho, both Yang and Ruby grow up. Some time in Yang’s childhood the Spring Maiden, Kore Biscay, arrives at the Branwen Tribe. Raven decides to _personally_ take her in (to keep the maiden powers close, mostly). 

Since Yang and Kore are both around the same age, they become friends. In addition, Yang acts as Kore’s sparring partner during her training. The girls become extremely close.Kore brings out more of Yang’s cheerful, sunny personality (it’s always been there, but more subdued due to being raised in the grittier, more serious environment of a bandit tribe).Yang teaches Kore not to fear her powers as much, and to have more confidence in herself.

Kore still dies, though. Just differently. In this au, she dies during the first raid on a town Raven takes her on. Kore may have once been terrified of her destiny, but she knows destroying people’s homes and stealing from them is not what she’s supposed to be using the maiden powers for. In the attack, she turns against the tribe and tries to save people.

Raven, in turn, declares Kore a traitor to their people and attacks her.

Yang is torn by the scene she’s witnessing. Before that moment, she’s never questioned her mother’s ways, but she loves Kore like a sister and doesn’t want to just attack her either. Yang is paralyzed, and can only watch as Raven takes a killing blow against Kore.

Yang manages to reach Kore, to hold her as she dies, and subsequently inherits the maiden powers.

Raven later acts like Kore’s death didn’t mean much. Thanks to Yang, they successfully kept the maiden powers in the tribe. They could even consider this a _good_ thing, since Yang is stronger than her predecessor ever was in the first place, in Raven’s opinion.

Yang takes it harder. Kore was someone close to her, who she loved. She can’t believe her mother would act so callously either. Yang starts to question everything (a lesson Raven _did_ teach her, but just in a way that was directing Yang to question anyauthority who _wasn’t_ Raven herself).

Yang doesn’t stop loving Raven or the tribe, but she can’t bring herself to use the maiden powers for their goals when she knows Kore was opposed to that.Conflicted, Yang runs away.When Raven comes after her, Yang uses the maiden powers to fight her mother off.Yang warns Raven not to follow her, or she’ll get to see the true strength of Yang’s new magic.Raven backs off, although she assumes Yang will eventually return to the tribe.

After wandering on her own for a short period, Yang enrolls at Beacon Academy.She likes being surrounded by a large group of allies.It makes her feel safer than being alone.

Except, then, Yang considers it extremely bad luck when, during initiation, the first person she comes across is the headmaster’s pet prodigy, Ruby Rose.

Although Ruby lived her first few years of life with Taiyang in Patch, when she was six, mercenaries were dispatched to kidnap her.In the attack, Taiyang was injured (he now walks with a limp and can’t really fight).In the aftermath, Taiyang and Qrow decided to move Ruby to living at Beacon Academy, where she, like the relic, would be surrounded by experience huntsmen and huntresses who could better protect her.

Everyone knows that, for years, despite not being old enough to enter the academy, Ruby has been receiving special, mystery lessons from Professor Ozpin (for the record, these are about her silver eyes) and private combat tutoring sessions from Glynda Goodwitch (she’s not fond of it, but Ozpin requested it of her, so she’ll do it).

Thus, when Ruby officially becomes a student two years early, no one’s really surprised (and no one can see her anything other than the “pet prodigy” either).

Yang, who was all about keeping a low profile, isn’t happy that her partner is perhaps the most easily identifiable person on campus.

She hates what she perceives as Ruby’s immaturity and childishness.Growing up in a bandit tribe (and also seeing her closest friend murdered in front of her) has taught Yang that life is harsh, unrelenting, and unforgiving.There can be no time for _fun_ or _games_ when you don’t know when the next attack to kill you is coming, because it’s probably coming soon.

After suffering Kore’s loss, too, Yang really isn’t eager on attaching herself to anyone else, who’s probably just going to die anyway.

Eventually, she accepts that she’s stuck with Ruby, both as a partner and as her team leader (Team RWBY is still formed but with Ruby/Yang partnered and Weiss/Blake partnered instead of the show combinations).

(I realize the initials of the partnered characters are no longer next to each other, but they aren’t in Team JNPR’s name either so). 

Team RWBY gets off to a rocky start, to the extent that some faculty begin questioning if they should break the team apart and reassign them.

Weiss and Blake are more likely to argue (and, on a couple occasions, attack each other) than to actually work as partners.

Yang maintains an attitude that the others should stay out of her way in their practice bouts (she considers herself the strongest, even tho she hasn’t told anyone about the maiden powers).

Ruby has little confidence as team leader, due to her younger age and her anxiety that the others think she only got the position because she’s Ozpin’s prodigy (and not because of her own skills).

They’re kind of a mess, and it shows.

Things start to change when Yang decides she’s going to teach Ruby hand-to-hand combat.She’s gotten to a point where she doesn’t necessarily _like_ Ruby, but she doesn’t _dislike_ her either.At the very least, she wants her to stay alive.That means Ruby can’t have such a glaring weakness an opponent could exploit.Ruby agrees to the training because she wants Yang to like her and be her friend.

They slowly begin to form a bond.(It helps that Ruby introduces Yang to scroll games, which she never really had access to in the tribe).

Blake’s Faunus reveal goes similarly to how it did in the show.She lets something slip and then runs off.The others look for her, the attack at the docks happens.Weiss tells Blake they’re teammates, _partners_ , no matter what, and they need to be able to come to each other with these kinds of things.

Weiss realizes the errors of the the Schnee Dust Company’s ways sooner, too, because she and Blake end up talking through things more due to their partnership.

Yang hides the maiden powers all throughout her time at Beacon.She does use them, but in small ways incorporated into her fighting style.Yang is careful to only use them when her semblance is active (so the fire of her hair masks the fire of her eyes) or close her eyes for the briefest of seconds.She only uses the powers in conjunction with ember celica, so it appears as though she’s shooting off specialized dust bullets instead of mysterious magic.

*Yang doesn’t want anyone to question her, or find out about her past (to hide her link to the Branwen tribe, she enrolled using a fake surname).

During the Vytal Festival Tournament, the 1v1 match between Yang and Mercury still happens.However, since Yang has spent so much time focusing on self-restraint due to hiding the maiden powers, her first response when Mercury “attacks” her is to dodge, gain some distance, and then take up a defensive position.

Since it wasn’t what Emerald expected from the “hothead”, she breaks concentration and loses the illusion.Everyone assumes Yang was just jumpy after the fight and it’s decided she won’t fight again until the next night to give her some time to cool off.She’s not disqualified from the tournament.

This is a frustrating hiccup in the plan for Cinder, but she decides they can still be successful with the manipulation of Penny and Pyrrha’s match.

However, because of Yang teaching Ruby hand to hand combat, when Mercury stops Ruby in the hallway, she manages to punch him out and get past him.Ruby rushes into the arena, stopping the match.While everyone else scrambles, Ruby reveals Pyrrha’s semblance to Penny and Penny’s robotic status to Pyrrha.

After the reveal (which is only between the three of them), the authorities finally get to the arena to remove Ruby.They give her the warning that, if she pulls another stunt, Team RWBY will be disqualified and she needs to go sit down.

Penny and Pyrrha’s match starts a second time.But, since she now knows the danger she poses to Penny, Pyrrha is far more reserved in her fighting.Even with illusions, Emerald can’t get her to make a big move like the one she did in the show.

So, Emerald switches tactics.Instead of manipulating Pyrrha, she goes after Penny.This works better.Knowing that Pyrrha is a very real threat to her has caused Penny to feel fear for the first time in a battle.She’s distracted.Emerald makes it seem like Pyrrha is trying to kill her, so Penny reacts with using her lasers on Pyrrha.

This kills Pyrrha instantly.

The audience’s horror attracts the Grimm.Cinder gives her speech.The attack happens.

(After the Fall, Penny is taken into custody by the Atlas Military and transported back to Atlas, where the council questions whether her existence was actually a good idea since she just killed someone)

Pyrrha’s death leaves Ozpin scrambling for a replacement to try and take Amber’s remaining maiden powers.He comes across Jaune, Ren, and Nora and decides Nora is a good as any.He’s out of time.He needs to complete the transfer _now_.

(in this au, I’m going to say Pyrrha told her teammates everything.They saw something was bothering her and wouldn’t stop pushing (especially Nora) until she spilled the beans.)

Nora agrees to do it.Both Jaune and Ren accompany her and Ozpin to the Vault.

Cinder attacks.Jaune and Ren hold her off long enough for the transfer to happen.Nora, now merged with Amber, joins the fight.She and Ozpin face off against Cinder.Ren refuses to leave Nora.Jaune calls for reinforcements, fearing for both Ren and Nora’s lives.

Cinder kills Ozpin, who’s was distracted by trying to protect Nora and Ren.

Nora and Cinder fly to face off at the top of the tower.Ren follows them.He arrives just in time to see Cinder kill Nora.Enraged, he attacks her.

(Side note: Since Weiss and Blake are partners in this au, they’re the ones who face off against Adam.Weiss is the one who loses an arm.)

Ruby and Yang are the ones who rush to the tower at Jaune’s call.They arrive in time for Ruby’s silver eyes to activate to stop Cinder from taking a killing blow against Ren.

Subsequently, Yang, Ren, and Jaune are the ones who get Ruby out of there instead of Qrow.Based on something Cinder said, they’re given the hint that she and her team came from Haven.The three keep Ruby safe and, when she wakes up, decide to all go to Haven together.

They become Team RYJR (Rager).It may not be a color, but they’re all pretty angry.

Qrow finds them and follows them from a distance.Tyrian is dispatched to kidnap Ruby and bring her to Salem.

The fight with Tyrian happens, Qrow reveals himself, and that night he begins to explain things.He tells the group about Salem, the maiden, and the relics.

Yang doesn’t reveal that she’s the Spring Maiden.

Later, Qrow catches Yang in private and tells her he has important information for her.She panics, thinking he knows she’s the maiden and withholding that knowledge.

Qrow doesn’t know about that.He tells Yang he knows her father, Taiyang, and that Taiyang is Ruby’s father too.She and Ruby are sisters.He decided to tell her first because he didn’t know how she’d react (and he worried if he told Ruby first, she’d get excited and overwhelm Yang).Qrow says he’ll give Yang some time, but he wants her to tell Ruby (or he will, eventually).

For the rest of the trip to Haven, Yang grapples with the idea of having a sister and about coming clean and revealing she’s a maiden.She knows she should tell the others, but she’s not ready to admit what happened with Kore yet.She’s also not sure she wants the closeness of a sister.

They arrive at Haven, and meet with Lionheart.

Lionheart reveals that the Spring Maiden is the one associated with Haven’s Vault and the Lamp of Knowledge.He and Qrow fill Ruby, Ren, and Jaune in on how the spring maiden ran away (which Yang already knew).

Qrow reveals his suspicions that the Spring Maiden is with Raven.He emphasizes that they need to retrieve her.Lionheart, like in the show, deflects.Qrow grows suspicious because of this (and the empty school).He doesn’t reveal he also knows Yang was part of the tribe.

Later, in private, Qrow asks Yang if she knows anything about the maiden or if she met her while living with her mother.

Yang’s guilt over Kore’s death and fears about what they’ll think of her for not stopping Raven prevent her from revealing the truth.

Later, Ruby comes to Yang because she wants to know what’s bothering her.Yang almost admits that she’s the maiden, but doesn’t.

Instead she reveals that she and Ruby are sisters, that Taiyang is father to them both. 

Meanwhile, Cinder, Watts, & co approach Raven, because they’ve heard rumors that the Spring Maiden is with her people (through Lionheart). 

Raven tells them that Spring got away and she doesn’t know where she is anymore.Cinder pushes Raven on the point that Raven, as the leader of the tribe, must know the maiden’s identity and that she can help them find her.Raven agrees to help so long as they agree to leave her people alone once they find Spring. 

Raven doesn’t reveal her semblance, Yang’s identity, or that she can create a portal that can take them directly to her.

Eventually, by talking to the tribe, Cinder learns that Raven’s daughter left some time ago under unusual circumstances.She begins to put two and two together about Yang being the maiden and reports back to Salem.Salem orders Tyrian after Yang.

Raven figures out that they know about Yang.She travels to Yang herself, to warn her and to try and convince her to just do what they want.

By now, Yang considers her friends, and especially Ruby, her family.She tells her mother she knows Ruby’s her sister.She refuses to listen to Raven.

Kore believed fighting for good was right, so does Ruby.And Yang will follow both their leads.

Tyrian attacks.Yang blatantly uses the maiden powers to protect Ruby from him, and reveals herself in the process.She doesn’t have time to fully explain before the larger attack on the school itself begins.

Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald arrive.Everyone fights.

Emerald uses illusions to trick Yang.Mercury grabs her.He and Emerald keep everyone else at bay while Cinder takes Yang down to the Vault.

Raven manages to follow them.

Cinder and Yang have a maiden fight.Raven arrives and sacrifices herself to take out Cinder to save Yang.She pulls both herself and Cinder over the edge of the Vault.

Yang opens the Vault and retrieves the relic.She breaks down, but she’s determined to keep the Lamp safe now.She finally accepts being the Spring Maiden, and can feel Kore’s spirit is with her.

She goes back upstairs.The fight ends.

Yang finally tells everyone how she became the Spring Maiden.


End file.
